How I Initially Came To Understand The Concept Of A Mind Movie
Years ago (and LONG before I ever heard of Mind Movies, and honestly, before the Internet was really even “a thing” at that point) when I first started writing about goal setting and visualization techniques (as I mention in this Mind Movie article), I was working with clients who were in career transitions or where trying to determine a career path best suited to them. At that time, I asked my clients to close their eyes and imagine that they were sitting in a darkened movie theater, and looking at a blank movie screen.
I would ask them to imagine a scene from their life that they would really love to see – and I encouraged them to release all feelings of “I could NEVER see myself doing this or that…” I asked them to just go with their deepest desires, and SEE themselves playing out a scene they would most dearly love to see come true.
My Only Requirement
I told them that my only requirement was that there would be nothing that would involve harming anything or anyone in their scene, because, as I explained then (and still believe today) that what you wish upon for another will be mirrored back to you*.
So, with that short list of instructions, I’d have them go to it.
In addition, I explained, the more FEELING and EMOTION that they could put into this scene, the better.
Without going into further detail about that particular exercise itself, I want to explain that without even knowing it, I was employing some pretty powerful visualization techniques that are being used by a lot of amazing teachers.
At that time, I called the exercise “making a mind movie.”
So, what ARE mind movies? Essentially, a “Mind Movie” is a visualization tool that can help impress the things you desire into your brain and subconscious.
When you are creating an image of what you want, you need to have as clear a picture as possible. For example, I believe it’s not enough to say, “I want a nice home.” What does your dream home look like? What style is it? Where is it? What color is it?
You should be able to walk around this dream home in your mind. Scour the real estate listings in areas where you’d like to live, and find a representation of the home you want. Do you want a beautiful old farm house on 25 acres where you are growing organic crops on the sloping field that looks down into a river valley?
Are you in a luxury condo on the ocean? Which ocean? Are you living in a modern high-rise on the California Coast? A cottage in the mountains? On a lake?
When you enter the door to your home, are you entering a farm kitchen filled with antique hutches and tables? Or are you preparing gourmet meals in a modern bistro style kitchen?
As you can see, the more you can visualize, the more you will FEEL. As I was typing those words, I felt my heart and breathing quicken as I envisioned some of the things that I want! 🙂
THAT is what you want to feel as you create YOUR Mind Movie!
It’s not enough to say, “I want money.” That is a bland and non-descript goal. It hardly makes me want to even write it down. How about if your goal was to make $200 per day instead? That’s $6,000 per month! That’s $72,000 per year! Does THAT get your heart and breath quickening with emotion?
If you already earn $100,000 per year, then that example probably didn’t quite do it for you! 🙂 But, if you are only at $25,000 per year right now, $72,000 might not feel so bad, right?
So, no matter what you want to visualize, remember that a Mind Movie is a TOOL, and you must use the tool correctly. The Mind Movie cannot create the visualization you want without you KNOWING WHAT YOU WANT.
YOU give the tool your input. YOU find the pictures and affirmations that make your heart quicken…
Then, the most important thing is to USE the tool. Watch your mind movie morning, noon and night. Watch it whenever you can.
Let the images and affirmations burn themselves deep into your subconscious – and then remain alert for the bits of intuition and guidance and signs that come to you, nudging you to act towards attaining your goals.
Remember John Assaraf and his “Vision Boards” in The Secret?
First of all, I was enthralled with John Assaraf, who (along with Bob Proctor and Michael Beckwith) was one of my very favorite “teachers” that was featured on the famous Law of Attraction film, The Secret. I talk about John a LOT in the article where I introduce the Vision Board concept. I actually may make myself a mind movie wherein I meet John Assaraf! He is a very powerful speaker, and he also speaks from his heart.
John was the one who – for me – took the idea of the “vision board,” and was able to show me how the “mind movie” is the perfect way to marry the two concepts into a format perfectly built for today’s online consumer.
*This is really not much different than “The Golden Rule,” and the old adage, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” In addition, in ALL the teachings that I have studied, and I mean ALL of ‘em, the idea that you “reap what you sow” lies behind absolutely everything.
For example, in The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, Joseph Murphy states, “Any time you feel tempted to injure of think ill of another, project yourself mentally into the mind of Moses and think from the standpoint of the Ten Commandments. If you are prone to be envious, jealous, or angry, project yourself into the mind of Jesus and think from that standpoint, and you will feel the truth of the words, ‘Love ye one another.’…Your mind is a creative medium; therefore, what you think and feel about the other, you are bringing to pass in your own experience. This is the psychological meaning of the Golden Rule…” (Murphy. 191-193.)
Actually, that entire chapter, Your Subconscious Mind and Harmonious Human Relations will serve as an excellent primer on this topic if you would like to learn more about it.
Works cited:
Murphy, Joseph (Revised by Ian McMahan, Ph.D.). The Power of Your Subconscious Mind. New York: Reward Books.2000. Print.